Can we delay the progression of Alzheimer's Disease?

Researchers from the Centre for Research in
Biosciences are working with local charity BRACE on a project that
may lead to earlier interventions that slow or even prevent
progression of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Dr Myra Conway from UWE's Centre for Research in Biosciences is
working with UWE PhD student and BRACE scholar, Jonathan Hull, Dr
Katy Chalmers, Professor Seth Love and Dr Patrick Kehoe from
Bristol's Frenchay Hospital on a three year project that aims to
identify how proteins control glutamate in the brain. Glutamate
build-up can cause brain cell toxicity leading to neural
degeneration.

Pilot studies have already ascertained that people with AD
experience an excessive production of brain specific enzymes
responsible for controlling glutamate. This study provides an
opportunity to improve our understanding of the chemistry of
cellular deterioration that can occur in the brains of people with
AD so that we can develop better treatments.

Dr Conway explains, “In healthy individuals, the brain uses a
chemical called glutamate to control memory and learning. If the
glutamate reaches high levels, however, it becomes toxic to the
brain cells and may help cause dementia. There is a protein that
controls glutamate levels and we need to find out what happens to
this protein in the brains of people with dementia.

“Glutamate levels in the brain are controlled by a protein
called the branched chain amniotransferase (BCAT). It is possible
that regulation of the hBCAT proteins in patients with AD is
directly linked to glutamate toxicity."

Speaking about the importance of the research Dr Conway says,
“It is critical that we gain better insights into the pathogenesis
of AD as it is estimated that there will be around 34 million
people suffering from dementia worldwide by 2025. If we can
ascertain how hBCAT controls glutamate during disease conditions we
will come closer to understanding how to develop treatments that
may delay or even prevent the progression of AD.”